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Edit: I have taken the feedback and suggestions from this thread and completed a second much improved zoanthrope that you can see a few posts down. The first conversion will be re-worked to be just like the improved version and not the ugly thing that it is now. Thanks for checking out the thread and if you're interested in learning how to make plastic zoanthropes keep your eyes open for a tutorial coming sometime in the not-too-distant future.

I've been working on a zoanthrope kitbash conversion to make very cheap zoanthropes because $25 per model is ridiculously expensive. I started with mostly bits I already had extras of and purchased a few cheap bits for what I didn't already have or would need to raid another kit for them. Total out of pocket cost for 6 Zoanthropes: under $20. I just put the finishing touches on my beta test model and am looking for some feedback, suggestions, criticism, etc. The only part I'm not really happy about is the brain so if anybody could point me to some good sculpting guides for brains I would very much appreciate it. Thanks in advance for your input and keep an eye out for an upcoming tutorial on how I built this beastie.

And here she is. It's not as tall as a standard zoanthrope but if it's too far off I can always prop it up with some other bits or make it float using a pin or something.


The bits used in the conversion with the exception of some extra termagant fleshborer arms that I added at the last minute for the bottom set of claws:


More information on the conversion can be found in this blog post.

Very cool and effective conversion! I would maybe suggest extending the GS that you've done on the back of his head all the way to the back of his jaw where his "old" head begins to ease that transition.

FearPeteySodes wrote:Very cool and effective conversion! I would maybe suggest extending the GS that you've done on the back of his head all the way to the back of his jaw where his "old" head begins to ease that transition.

Thanks FearPeteySodes, that's a great suggestion. I thought about it when planning out the green stuff and then completely forgot about it
Thanks for the feedback

Another option would be to use Trygon head bits - sizewise and shapewise, they look quite Zoanthrope-ish. And as the Trygon kit comes wih spare heads, you should be able to get some cheap.

i like this conversion, except that the hips look too bulky in proportion to the rest of the body - maybe use greenstuff to bulk up the two lower armour plates on the torso? Or somehow trim down the hip section to match the slimness of the torso?

Thanks Clang, some very good ideas there and I'm glad you like it overall.

The main reason for using the warrior head is that I already had 6 extras but I think the trygon head crest idea is starting to grow on me (planning on using the mawloc head crest for a Doom conversion.) It would certainly be easier than sculpting an extension to the warrior head and it would probably make it easier to sculpt the brains as well. I have one extra trygon head piece that I can try out on the next one. If it works well I'll try to get some more and swap out the head piece on this one. It will cost a bit more but as there are extra head pieces in each trygon kit they shouldn't put too much strain on my wallet.

The hips are another area that I kind of noticed but didn't pay a whole lot of attention to. I chose the gant torso not only because I don't have extra warrior torsos, but also because I didn't just want it to look like a legless warrior with a big brain like many other conversions out there (another reason why the trygon head crest is a good idea.) Looking at the official model, my zoey's hips are way too big. I think trimming them down and/or bulking up the upper part will help out the overall look and would also make the lowest level of claws easier to attach since the leg sockets won't be as deep.

Thanks for all the feedback and advice, it's really helping me refine my design so keep it coming!

So far it looks good, the head though.... its awkward, and probably shouldnt have the barbed tongue.

on second thought, the lowest set of pincers should be replaced with a pair of withered legs, it just looks... odd

Thanks poda_t

I think you're right about the barbed tongue and will be using regular tongue faces instead. My plans for the lower pincers changed at the last minute as my original plan was not working and I had to think of something quickly before the green stuff dried up on me. I'll come up with something a little less awkward for the final version. Thanks for the feedback!

I had another look and pondermized.

It might be more effective to make a single incredibly long noodle (or several...), and then string it about more or less at random for the brain. Once that's set, make the "carapace" around it as seen on the normal models, or carry on from there to create your desired effect.

Looks amazing.

I don't have any helpful suggestions like the others, but I think it looks good. A more imposing take on the zoanthrope, to be sure.

The conversion is fantastic; however, I personally would have paid a little more attention to the detail on the green stuff.

I like the kind of mis shapen element you got going on with the torso. It looks as though the body has been left withered and under developed in favour of a larger cranial capacity which is entirely appropriate for a Zoanthrope.

A few things that stood out to me though.
1. As has been mentioned your greenstuffing needs a little bit of atteniton to detail. Although with another 5 of these lined up I imagine you will crack that nut in due course.
2. The top set of scything talons look out of place. Purely because Zoanthropes aren't a melee oriented biomorph.
3. Lastly it looks a little to much like a ravener in its current pose. Maybe if it were positioned a little more upright?

Anyway these are just my 2cents. Its a solid conversion without a doubt.

poda_t: Thanks for the suggestion. I will try that if I can't think of a better method. I just had a funny thought right before clicking submit. I think it would be funny to actually cook up some thin spaghetti (or similar) noodles to lay down on the model. I wonder if that would actually work.

Ogryn and F50Grunt: Thanks for the compliments.

Element206: Thank you, and I agree the green stuff is definitely lacking in detail. I'm just not that great at sculpting yet and had no idea how to do all the brain details and such. That will definitely be something I work on improving.

Brother Azul wrote:I like the kind of mis shapen element you got going on with the torso. It looks as though the body has been left withered and under developed in favour of a larger cranial capacity which is entirely appropriate for a Zoanthrope.

A few things that stood out to me though.
1. As has been mentioned your greenstuffing needs a little bit of atteniton to detail. Although with another 5 of these lined up I imagine you will crack that nut in due course.
2. The top set of scything talons look out of place. Purely because Zoanthropes aren't a melee oriented biomorph.
3. Lastly it looks a little to much like a ravener in its current pose. Maybe if it were positioned a little more upright?

Anyway these are just my 2cents. Its a solid conversion without a doubt.

Thanks to you as well Brother Azul. You're right on with #1.

For #2 you definitely have a valid point. I chose the talons because I wanted a more aggressive looking conversion and I just think they look sweet. You're not wrong about the talons on a non-melee creature but I'm going to have to invoke the Rule of Cool on this one and go for aesthetics over fluff. I'm also going to change the middle and bottom sets of arms so I don't have the 3 different types of claws going on, I think it looks a bit funny that way.

I also agree that you have a good point on #3. I didn't position the model more upright because I wanted the head facing downward like the official model and I had to shave off part of the warrior's chin and the gaunt's chest to get it pointed down even that far. I should be able to get a more upright pose using the trygon head pieces, which would also make the model taller and closer to the official model's height.

And again, thanks to everyone for the continued feedback, compliments, and suggestions. You have all been a great help

I'm almost done with the second zoanthrope. I used a lot of the suggested changes and it looks 100 times better than the first one. Thanks again to everyone for all the feedback and advice.

Edit: I don't know why dakkadakka is blowing up the picture so big since the original source is only 480x650 pixels

Brilliant! difference from the first on is like night and day! This one is gorgeous

genius use of excess sprue bit as filler btw

The "Brains" on #2 look so much better! Looks great

I'm not a tyranid expert but I liked both. The fact your not paying GW's outragious price for what you want...your my hero.

Thats so good It could pass as a Doom of Malatai

The pelvis on the first one doesn't work for me. It seems overly large for the atrophied legs you've attached. Maybe use the gaunt body & the larger tail rather than the whole pelvis?

Honestly, I think I prefer the second one to the official model, great work!

'100 times better than the first one'? Nah, but at least 10 times better

Wow, what an overwhelming response!

Depraved wrote:The "Brains" on #2 look so much better! Looks great

InquisitorVaron wrote:Thats so good It could pass as a Doom of Malatai

wib wrote:Honestly, I think I prefer the second one to the official model, great work!

Thank you all for your kind words

Clang wrote:'100 times better than the first one'? Nah, but at least 10 times better

OK, I might have exaggerated just a little bit

poda_t wrote:Brilliant! difference from the first on is like night and day! This one is gorgeous

genius use of excess sprue bit as filler btw

Thanks! All the advice I got from this thread really helped me improve the design dramatically. I got the sprue filler idea from someone who used foam as a filler for a doom of malantai conversion and since I'm all about saving money, using bits of sprue seemed like an even better idea. It is a bit heavier than foam but since the model is pretty well balanced on the middle of the base and pinned to the base as well it doesn't matter that it is top heavy.

Red_Starrise wrote:The pelvis on the first one doesn't work for me. It seems overly large for the atrophied legs you've attached. Maybe use the gaunt body & the larger tail rather than the whole pelvis?

The pelvis on the first one was definitely way too big. I shaved the pelvis down quite a bit on the second one so it looks more natural and not so unbalanced. I made several design changes to make it look more like the official model and just better in general. Thanks for the feedback.

shrew wrote:I'm not a tyranid expert but I liked both. The fact your not paying GW's outragious price for what you want...your my hero.

Thank you. My budget is pretty limited so I'm always looking for ways to save money on the hobby, and saving over $20 per zoanthrope is like a wet dream to me. I'll be working on the third conversion and I will also writing up a tutorial soon to share how I make them.

The second one is very good, I would have no problem seeing those on the battlefield.

Thanks theunicorn, glad you like it. I just finished putting together a pic that shows the mini from different angles so you can see the whole thing.

Click here for the full size version of the picture.

Great looking second version. I do actually like the original GW version but I would be torn if I had to choose between the two. Score one for chaosheade.

Thanks Reanimator! I definitely prefer my own zoanthrope but I might be just a little bit biased for some strange unknown reason.

Pretty cool, but a bit too physically aggressive for a zoanthrope in my opinion. Their limbs are supposed to be kind of more withered, due to their exceptional mental development, aren't they?

I liked the 1st version. . . But love the 2nd!

It's good to see someone actually take the advice given when they ask for it.

Big kudos for a job well done!

I love the later version! I think the extended brain/head is so much more attractive than the a lot of the original GW 'nid models.

On the point of people pointing out that the limbs don't look atrophied enough, you could address that with paint maybe, using more sickly colors than the rest of the body maybe?

Emperors_Champion wrote:I liked the 1st version. . . But love the 2nd!

It's good to see someone actually take the advice given when they ask for it.

Big kudos for a job well done!

Thank you very much. I was really impressed by the improvement between the 2 models and it would not have been possible without all the feedback and advice I received.

SoloFalcon1138 wrote:Pretty cool, but a bit too physically aggressive for a zoanthrope in my opinion. Their limbs are supposed to be kind of more withered, due to their exceptional mental development, aren't they?

That's true, and I considered using the more traditional arms, but I like look of the talons so much that I just had to keep it.

ChorusLucia wrote:I love the later version! I think the extended brain/head is so much more attractive than the a lot of the original GW 'nid models.

On the point of people pointing out that the limbs don't look atrophied enough, you could address that with paint maybe, using more sickly colors than the rest of the body maybe?

Thanks ChorusLucia. That's a good idea about using different colors to make the limbs look atrophied and it inspired me to come up with another idea. Instead of the glossy black physical talons that the rest of my nids will have, I could paint the zoey's talons in a bright shining blue or something to show that they are made of psychic energy rather than physical matter. That would let me keep the talons look while also sticking to the fluff. Thanks for the idea!